The bitter better factor
by Ali Anani
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managers turn sweet lemon to sour with their decisions. Forgetting about emerging emotional needs are the root causes of turning good performance into a sour one
managers turn sweet lemon to sour with their decisions. Forgetting about emerging emotional needs are the root causes of turning good performance into a sour one
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Ali Anani
Dear juao, I am perplexed what to say. Great comment, but I have to defer my response till Lori responds. All what I can say now is that the level of comments on this presentation fill me with satisfaction and my mind with lots to think about. Keep on the road, Juao 1 year ago
I’m glad to know about that and I think that right now hundreds of people are doing the same choice in many countries. Still, I think these individuals, living in societies where modern conditions of production prevail, are exceptions rather than the rule, just as I wondered about in my comment.
New ideas and behavior take time to be consolidated. Besides, every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem. Today, more than never, personal changings are quite a challenge to each one of us: the motto of the selfish, modern society we live in is “Love yourselve” and not “Know yourselve”.
Of course, it’s true there’s a new working mentality emerging in recent decades, thanks to discussions about professional life quality. According to Lori some employees start wanting to do what they love. On the other hand, I think that Michel Foucault has hit the nail on the head: “the dominant social and productive system furtively organizes our lives, making us to believe there is no oppression, but only ‘rational’ necessities”. And what, if “doing what we love” is just another rational necessity the invisible establishment imposes on us?
Viewed in the context of labor and pleasure entwined, what I would like saying to young people is quoted from the Cat Stevens’ song “Oh very young”, released on his 1974 album “Buddha and the chocolate box”.
I fully agree with Lori that we ourselves must say to us the verse “You’re only dancing on this earth for a short while” every single day — till the last minute of our life. However, I just feel that nearly forty years is time enough to adult people change their mentality and take control over their hearts and minds, just like she did herself in 2007, at 37, when she left Microsoft. So, my sincere congratulations on her challenging and wise decision.
As for me, in my particular case, I confess that at 66 I am still on the road, relentlessly in a hurry… 1 year ago
Thanks, Charles. Yes, I hope readers check on your progressive model. Thanks 1 year ago
You are absolutely correct that for “sense of purpose” to manifest, we need a purpose environment, led by purpose leaders, using our firm’s PDL framework as explained in detail in the article below
(http://www.managementexchange.com/story/leadership-purpose-driven-way-stretch-and-eustress).
Regards, Charles 1 year ago
Dear Charles, you make a sound and impacting comment. I feel many darts of thoughts are hitting my mind.
I like that you brought up the idea of and I quote 'Bitter experiences (or the so called wilderness moments), sometimes are essential to mould us to become better'. I fully agree. Slide 4 of the presentation states that occasionally bitter is better. So, we are in full agreement.
I like the way you structured the presentation. I also enjoyed your notification that changing the i for e makes such a great difference. Again, this gives a lovely example of the Butterfly Effect
I thank you for your suggestion for me of writing a book 'Bitter to Better'. That is a great idea
I greatly enjoyed your emphasis on Human Capital and the need to promote and energize this capital intellectually and emotionally to cope with your famous and relevant model 'Purpose Driven Leadership'. We need a combined purpose that caters for the various aspects of the human capital. A purpose that doesn't ignore what I call 'The Emotional Capital' of organizations.
As much as I loved and learnt from your comment, dear Charles, it still puzzles me that you didn't refer to purpose driven leadership, which is your baby
A great comment that educates all readers.Thanks a lot dear Charles for taking the time to illuminate us 1 year ago
• Discern whether the business improvements and/or promotions of a company, has made the performance of the company (&employees) bitter or better?
• As a corollary, in case someone has become bitter because of those improvements (and promotions) - how to make them better again, using the good qualities of those bitter experiences? Note: Bitter experiences (or the so called wilderness moments), sometimes are essential to mould us to become better.
• After the discernment process, how do we answer the larger question of what motivates employees to perform better in the 21st century of knowledge economy? In other words, in your terminology – is it physical drivers like money, status and power (or) emotional drivers like mastery, autonomy and sense of purpose?
If I had to further synthesize these questions – it all comes down to answering the key question of what ticks employees? Physical drivers or emotional drivers?
The answer per a recent study by the economists from MIT, UOC and CMU, suggest that financial incentives, no longer are the primary motivational drivers of increasing business performance, especially when it comes to the knowledge driven organizations of the 21st century. The same study also goes on to say that sense of purpose(http://www.managementexchange.com/story/leadership-purpose-driven-way-stretch-and-eustress), mastery and autonomy are the top three emerging motivational drivers of the high performance organizations -as masterfully explained by Daniel Pink in the following animated presentation (http://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/10-06-09-autonomy_mastery_purpose_motivation_your_it_staff).
What does this tell us? The traditional monetary motivation driven “performance causal value chains” that were designed for the 20th century organizations do not seem to be working well anymore. As a matter of fact, I had proposed one solution to this issue, called Virtual purpose equity exchange within MIX site, (http://www.managementexchange.com/hack/reforming-performance-management-systems-%E2%80%93-virtual-purpose-equity-vizpity%C2%A9-exchange-way) providing the ability for organizations (and its employees) to align, trade, motivate, exchange, enhance, energize and execute their human capitals (the single most important capability of 21st organizations), with a primary goal of increasing the performance (and value) for all of its stakeholders, much more effectively than their competitors.
In closing, a great presentation Dr. Ali Anani. In a way it also sounds like Jim Collins best seller book of “Good to Great” - and so, you perhaps can also write a book called “Bitter to better” using these insights. After all it is just a matter of “SHIFTING” one letter from “I” to “E” – which makes all the difference in the world!
In other words, shifting the focus from selfish “I” mindset to the altruistic “EVERYONE” mindset is the best answer here, as it not only shifts “bitter to better” in a literal sense, but also, it shifts it in both physical and emotional driver dimensions, as explained above - and let that be my last word.
Regards,
Charles 1 year ago
Lori, I am sorry to hear the sad news of the passing away of your grandmother.
You are welcome to add slides at any time
You remind me of a secretary who said once 'I am happy doing nothing'. 1 year ago
“We really wanted to be able share this idea, this lifestyle, with people. It doesn’t necessarily have to be riding your bike and delivering food. It’s kind of, more just a mentality, of doing what you love, supporting local community, and finding ways to branch out of the stereotypical work sense, you know, 9 to 5, get your paycheck every two weeks, you go home. That’s kind of. Your job is supposed to be, your job is your life! And as much as sometimes it’s kind of a bummer to have your life and your job so intertwined, it’s actually kind of a blessing in disguise, because you eventually just start doing what you love, and it just becomes an everyday thing. It’s not really work anymore. It’s just my life.” 1 year ago
Lori, your comment is stunning. I don't know where to start from because emotionally I am provoked by your grand comment. Let me start by quoting you from what you wrote in the last three lines. You wrote :who built the business around their desire to ride their bikes every day, to weave work into a life of travel and adventure...'. I couldn't agree more. Desire is the pulling emotion. Performance is tied up to desire. Giving money or other benefits without arousing the desire to go to work with full energy is meaningless. I loved the proofs you wrote about our grandfathers who scarified their lives working on jobs without full desire. A heart-breaking and tearing experiences that we keep repeating. Physical needs change; but are also accompanied by changes of our emotional needs. Here is the trap of most managers.May I ask you also to contribute few slides based on your comment.
I am sure any reader of your comment will await your forthcoming book on Different Works. I am no exception
I am sure Juao will respond to your comment
Lori, I am happier now that I didn't delete this presentation 1 year ago
I'm interested in discussing Juao Maya's comment that many young people want to achieve professional success in a hurry and value career over life. I have seen this (and done this) myself working within large corporations in my 20s and most of my 30s, although from my perspective this was even more true of my parent's generation (I'm 41, they're 65-70 now) than my generation and the 20-something generation coming up behind mine. We witnessed parents give 40+ years to organizations that they didn't like at all. We witnessed parents giving 40, then 50, then 60, then 70 hours/week attempting to move ahead at work. Many of us didn't know one or both parents well as a result, until we ourselves were adults and they had finally retired and slowed down. Taught many of my generation to take a chance on something better for ourselves, our families, and our communities. On the west coast of the U.S. today, I witness people of all ages leaving large organizations to start their own small ones or going to work for small community-focused organizations for that very reason: to imagine and have a better life and to reconnect with community. I left Microsoft in 2007, at 37, for the same reason.
Of course, I'm likely biased at the moment because I've been gathering stories for a book I'm writing called Different Work, about people who deeply love their work. The one clear theme across the stories is 'quality of life' and how many material things people are willing to give up to live better, spend more time with family, and create stronger communities. Last week I interviewed a thriving business of 20-something bicycle messengers who built the business around their desire to ride their bikes every day, to weave work into a life of travel and adventure, to serve their neighborhood, and to pay their rent.
So I think it's an outstanding idea to say to ourselves and others 'You're only dancing on this earth for a short while.' every single day. Even if we cannot act on it today, a thought this wise will continue to percolate. :-) 1 year ago